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The most significant action in the early hours of the Battle of the Bulge Against-all-odds stand of an untested American infantry unit At the start of the Battle of the Bulge, the green U.S. 394th Infantry Regiment of the 99th Division occupied a critical road junction. For thirty-six hours, the 394th defended the crossroads against repeated assaults by German forces, inflicting a delay from which the Germans would never recover."

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I was so interested in this aspect of the Battle of Bulge and enjoyed the book so much that I did something I have never done before, I emailed the author and told him so! To his credit I did get a reply. The important thing is that this well researched book has been written by someone that has an affinity for the subject matter. His writing style had me hooked, and wishing that the section on the fight of the I&R platoon at Lanzerath would make a better movie than Saving Private Ryan! Here in these chapters is the essence of what went right and what went wrong in the Battle of the Bulge. A must read book for any WWII buff,

Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon.com

Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars
9 reviews

Dave Schranck

4.0 out of 5 starsHeroic Defense of Losheimergraben

9 August 2009 - Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase

This story is about the green 99th ID, and more particular its 394th IR, that had just come over from the States and been in the line for only a month. Though it had been trained well, it had seen no major action and it was guarding probably the most important gateway to the Meuse River from Germany. It was the area between Losheim and Losheimergraben. The Germans had used this gateway twice before; the first time to start WWI and the second time to attack Belguim and France in 1940. The Germans knew this area well. They planned to use the 12th VGD of 6th PzA to penetrate the line and open Rollbahnen or Highway C and D for the panzers of the 1st SS PzD to race to the Meuse River near Huy. Placing this new division in the Losheim Gap area is another indicator of the Allies underestimating German potential.

The plan sounded easy and the Germans were confident that the line would be broken within hours but they underestimated the 394th which held the critical Losheimergraben intersection for a day and a half, throwing Dietrich's schedule askew and giving the US V Corps time to organize a defense. This is the area that Peiper crosses into Belguim and starts his trek toward the Meuse.This story is not a high level overview but a down to earth combat - hand to hand fighting, ambushes, firefights and shellings. Many of the soldiers's accounts are told and you follow these people through their frightful nightmare.Mr Rusiecki has accumulated a wealth of information on this 36 hour battle for both US and German sides and presents a balanced account of the bravery of both sides that is very engaging.

There are photos of some of the key people of both sides in the story as well as a few battlefield shots. There are a few maps which are hand drawn and are not too helpful.The last chapter, "Completing the Record" was interesting. It gave some background information on the battle and who won awards plus some post war info. Among the entries is the killing of Joachim Peiper in 1976 in the small French village he was living in. Other people of the story are mentioned also, describing their lives after the war. There is an Appendix and an Order of Battle for both sides that will be helpful.This is a very good story and anybody who is interested in first hand battlefield accounts in the manner of T.R. Fehrenbach, Stephen Ambose or Eric Hammel will enjoy Mr Rusiecki's book.

Overall this is a very good volume about the initial sparring during the opening 36 hours of the Battle of the Bulge. It focuses on the series of engagements that are very often abbreviated in most Bulge histories that normally skip right to Kampfgruppe Peiper's drive to the valley of the Ambleve. In THE KEY TO THE BULGE you find the detail of the costly German infantry attacks and timid assault gun appearances that failed to open a gap for Peiper.

THE KEY TO THE BULGE is a very military terrain oriented volume. It was obvious from reading this book that the author, Stephen M. Rusiecki, spent a lot of time walking the actual battleground. The narrative also leans heavily on firsthand accounts by soldiers from both sides. I also commend Rusiecki in that he did not resort to fluffing up his chapters with unrelated Ardennes combat action. THE KEY TO THE BULGE remains focused on the actions at Losheim, Losheimgraben, Lanzerath and Buchholz Station.

I rated the book at four stars for its minor shortcomings. First and foremost was that the Stackpole edition could have done with a few additional maps. I read this book while on a lengthy business trip and thus did not have access to my usual library of military maps of the region. Although the battle area concerned is very compact, it is still confusing to follow the action without some decent maps. At one point I was forced to go to an on-line map and draw my own strip map in order to keep up with the action. Second was that this fine book also has its share of oft repeated faux pas in that the German Sixth Panzer Army is incorrectly identified as the Sixth SS Panzer Army. The SS designation was not awarded until after the Ardennes Offensive (Rusiecki is in good company, historian Basil Liddell Hart did the same thing). Finally I have always found it irritating when an author uses contractions or includes exclamation marks in his own narrative.

THE KEY TO THE BULGE is a worthy addition to any Battle of the Bulge library. With the addition of a few extra maps this book also has potential as a decent battlefield tour guide.